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05 February 2016

This 'n' That

What are the signs of true "repentance" in the sight of God?First, I tell you, there is always sorrow with it. No man ever repents of sin without having some kind of sorrow with it. More or less intense, it may be, according to the way in which God calls him, and his previous manner of life, but there must be some sorrow. We do not care when it comes, but at some time or other it must come, or it is not the repentance of the Christian...What I would have you understand is, that there must be some real sorrow. If the prayer may not be vocal, it must be secret. There must be a groan if there is no word; there must be a sigh if there be no tear, to show the repentance, even though it be but small.There must be in this repentance, I think, not only sorrow, but there must be practice—practical repentance.Many people are very sorry and very penitent for their past sins Hear them talk. "Oh!" they say, "I deeply regret that ever I should have been a drunkard; and I sincerely bemoan that I should have fallen into that sin; I deeply lament that I should have done so." Then they go straight home; and when one; o'clock on Sunday comes you will find them at it again. And yet such people say they have repented. Do you believe them when they say they are sinners, but do not love sin? They may not love it for the time; but can they be sincerely penitent, and then go and transgress again immediately, in the same way as they did before? How can we believe you if you transgress again and again, and do not forsake your sin? We know a tree by its fruit, and you who are penitent will bring forth works of repentance...True "repentance" will yield works meet for repentance," it will be practical repentance.Yet farther. You may know whether your repentance is practical by this test. Does it last or does it not? Many of your repentances are like the hectic flush upon the cheek of the consumptive person which is no sign of health. Many a time have I seen a young man in a flow of newly acquired, but unsound godliness, and he has thought he was about to repent of his sins. For some hours such an one was deeply penitent before God, and for weeks he relinquishes his follies. He attends the house of prayer, and converses as a child of God. But back he goes to his sins as the dog returns to his vomit. The evil spirit has gone "back to his house, and has taken with him seven others more wicked than himself; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." How long has your penitence lasted? Did it continue for months? or did it come upon you and go away suddenly? You said, "I will join the church—I will do this, that, and the other, for God's cause." Are your works lasting? Do you believe your repentance will last six months? Will it continue for twelve months? Will it last until you are wrapped in your winding-sheet?Yet again, I must ask you one question more. Do you think you'll repent of your sins if no punishment were placed before you? or do you repent because you know you shall be punished for ever if you remain in your sins? Suppose I tell you there is no hell at all; that, if you choose, you may swear; and, if you will, you may live without God. Suppose there were no reward for virtue, and no punishment for sin, which would you choose? Can you honestly say, this morning, "I think, I know, by the grace of God, I would choose righteousness if there were no reward for it, if there were nothing to be gained by righteousness, and nothing to be lost by sin." Every sinner hates his sin when he comes near to the mouth of hell; every murderer hates his crime when he comes to the gallows; I never found a child hate its fault so much as when it was going to be punished for it. If you had no cause to dread the pit—if you knew that you might give up your life to sin, and that you might do so with impunity, would you still feel that you hated sin, and that you could not, would not, commit sin, except through the infirmity of the flesh? Would you still desire holiness? Would you still desire to live like Christ? If so—if you can say this in sincerity—if you thus turn to God and hate your sin with an everlasting hatred, you need not fear but that you have a "repentance" which is "unto life."—Charles Spurgeon, "Repentance Unto Life"

Good stuff, isn't it? Well, the links that follow may not be quite as convicting or searching as Spurgeon's sermon, but they will help you get up to date with your week in review (kind of):

One of my favorite books, The Attributes of God, by A.W. Pink, is free for Kindle.

Chintzy, seeker-driven, false teaching pastors are joining Netflix. Fantastic, now we really are surrounded by nonsense. It's cool, though, because Ed Young Jr. says, "I believe if Jesus were on planet Earth today in the flesh, He'd be on Netflix." Uh huh. Yeah...

Speaking of false teaching and chintzy pastors, Mark Driscoll has reinstated himself to ministry and is starting a new church in Phoenix.

Erin, You know I have been reading your blog faithfully for some time and you know how much I appreciate your efforts. I did question the OT theologian from your entry, "Old and New Testament parallels reveal a continuity that only God could create." Please read my comments there and I would be curious of your thoughts.Respectfully, mike

I can guarantee one place that I know He would NOT be and that's laying in a bed, on the roof of His "church" for a week, to promote His "sermon" series about sex. Pretty sure you wouldn't find Him there. Pretty sure He'd be out calling sinners to repentance, calling calling married people to more sex.

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Christians today are in a battle, not of weapons, but of truth. Remember the words of the apostle Paul:

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